00:00okay so I just want to take a moment to appreciate the fact that I'm surrounded
00:11by all of this magic right now specifically black girl magic to the other honorees Janelle
00:21Issa Asia I so appreciate you and that little prayer circle that we had before this I felt
00:28that energy and I'd also like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation for
00:34the women in this room and the work you all are dedicated and committed to creating see
00:40as a teenager I'm very unsure of myself most of the time not certain if I'm saying the right things
00:47if I am acting the right way if I'm even supposed to be here I'm constantly moving into new and
00:56unfamiliar territory from sets to events through young women womanhood to stages like this and it
01:03can all be very overwhelming what I am doing in these beautiful designer clothes while the world
01:10is reeling backwards people are being deported and discrimination is rearing its ugly head I don't
01:16know what I'm doing what am I doing to contribute to the world around me I'm fortunate because you
01:23all have taught me by example what the role of the artist is to disrupt to remold and to create
01:30to to disrupt this faulty system to remold the foundation of this country into one in which we
01:43are all given equal opportunities and to create a space in which our underlying humanity is recognized
01:49and our differences are celebrated I am honored to be on a show like blackish which does just this
01:56it's my belief that there is an unspoken poetry about how the women in this room move through the
02:03world not only as artists and as creators but as revolutions and revolutionaries excelling
02:10excelling in our fields and unafraid to take a stance because of you activism is synonymous with art
02:20everything you do your presence your poise your power breaks barriers and creates a space for a fuller
02:27existence I thank you for that space because you've created it and it's allowed me to play it's allowed me to
02:35thrive and it's allowed me to live freely your work has motivated me and expanded my own view of myself
02:42and my purpose thank you to essence for celebrating me and my peers and I have to take a moment to thank
02:49Cory Murray for being one of my biggest supporters for as long as I can remember my first feature in essence I
02:58was 10 and I was with my mama and we were talking about princess and the frog and the importance of
03:04representation my second feature was with my TV mama and I was 14 and we were talking about the importance
03:10of curly hair and I just have to say I am so thankful for the time that you all have invested in me
03:16um I I was pretty lucky to come to today to today's event with four of the most fabulous black women I
03:28know my mama over there uh my aunt Mel my cousin Jill and my publicist slash big sister Erica um I am
03:38also really fortunate to have a manager Liz who revels in every aspect of who I am and I am happy to be
03:45here with the important men in my life my Bubba my two brothers who are like the epitome of black
03:52boy joy I love them so much and you guys have always recognized the importance and the power of black
03:59women Merci Bubba my love of literature and the story it tells is why I began acting but it's your
04:06collective love and support that has made this industry feel like home in the words of James Baldwin
04:11um children children have never been very good at listening to their elders but they have never
04:16failed to imitate them and I am honored to be imitating you thank you thank you so much
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